KN: Not even close. Fortunately, we had a lot of very good races financially and we had other sponsorships. But the cash shortfall really started to catch up to us at the end of July, early August.

But the ADRL was still spending like that money was in the bank. Let me give you an example. At the St. Louis event in August 2010 – understand that during 2010 Sheikh Khalid was racing here with Frank Manzo as his crew chief. He was racing for an American Drag Racing League championship, having just won an Arabian Drag Racing League championship.

At that race they had brought in Larry Crispe for the first time from Bandimere with this track-dragging machine he had just invented to do track prep for that race and he wasn’t cheap. At about the same time they hired a video production company. I want to say it was One-Eyed Bird Productions that did a video – you can still find it on YouTube – that I was told cost us $80,000. We didn’t pay that directly; it was paid through Al-Anabi. So all this money is going out, yet the ADRL is not being funded as agreed. The American Drag Racing League is owned by Sheikh Khalid, but I’m running it day to day as the president and I’m trying to manage cash flow, I’m trying to maintain payroll, to pay out race purses, travel expenses, things of that nature – and the money is not being paid as agreed. They were always behind.

:What made all this come to a head in 2010?

KN: In 2010 we left the Dragstock event in Rockingham and, quite frankly, there wasn’t enough money in the bank to pay the purses.

:The Rockingham purse?

KN: Yes.

:Was the ADRL as a racing organization making enough money to make up the shortfall?

KN: Up until August, yes. We were managing somehow, some way. After the August event at St. Louis – another great event for us, it had a great turnout and generated lots of revenue – I pulled Sheikh Khalid aside and said, something has got to give here.

Sheikh Khalid said, Fly out to L.A., and spend some time with me. Bring Jess. We’ll get it all resolved. We’ll be good to go before we go to Norwalk.
So I fly out there and I am there a week before I ever get to see him. When I finally do get to see him, he’s not in a good way because of his lifestyle at the time. Nothing is being accomplished from a business standpoint.

I think at some point Tim McAmis flew out there (California) on some unrelated business because at that point Tim was an ADRL sponsor. I believe in 2010 he was a $10,000-a-year sponsor for the American Drag Racing League – got on the midway, got PA announcements – just a sponsor, Tim McAmis Race Cars.

Tim came out for some unrelated business while I was out there. I may have seen him while I was there, but there were a lot of people with their hands out, wanting money, who weren’t being paid – drivers, crew chiefs, you name it.

I was getting it from every angle because people thought since I had the Sheikh’s ear I could resolve these situations. Every time he would make a commitment people would call me and say, hey, I didn’t get my money yet. And I would say to call Don Greenbaum and they would say that they called but couldn’t get a return phone call. It was the same story.

If nothing else, I hope more people come forward from me speaking up because I can assure you that more people, since then to now, have been screwed out of a lot of money.